Crypto
The WTO Says Stablecoins Are Ready for World Trade, and Shared Rules Are the Missing Piece
The technology won. The paperwork is catching up. That was the message from Juan Marchetti, director of the trade in services and investment division at the World Trade Organization, speaking in Geneva on Monday at the launch of the WTO's study on stablecoins in world trade. 'The constraint is not technology. It is actually regulation and the lack of development of regulatory frameworks,' Marchetti said. Stablecoins can already move money across borders in seconds for a fraction of traditional costs. What holds them back is the patchwork of rules around them.
The numbers sketch the gap. An October 2025 Financial Stability Board report found that only 39 percent of surveyed jurisdictions, 11 out of 28, have finalized stablecoin regulatory frameworks. Stablecoins account for just 3 percent of total international payments today. Yet stablecoin use in cross border payments grew 35 fold between 2020 and mid 2024. The WTO's report names five friction points where stablecoins can help trade finance: high costs, low speed, limited access, insufficient transparency, and foreign exchange limitations. The demand is proven. The legal clarity is the bottleneck.
Marchetti's sharpest point was about who gains most. Developing economies stand to benefit the most from stablecoin adoption through lower remittance fees, yet those same countries have the least developed regulatory regimes. 'Contribution to trade will depend far less on the technology than on regulatory convergence, interoperability and the surrounding financial infrastructure, especially in developing economies that stand to gain,' he said. The people who would save the most on fees are waiting the longest for permission.
The private sector is moving ahead on its own timeline. In August, Mastercard partnered with the stablecoin orchestration network Borderless to pilot trusted cross border stablecoin transfers through its Crypto Credential framework, and announced plans to expand settlement to intraday, weekend, and holiday card settlement including through stablecoins. Also in August, Western Union partnered with stablecoin infrastructure provider Rain to launch a digital wallet and Visa branded card for holding and spending a US dollar backed stablecoin in 37 markets, with plans to reach more than 60 markets by year end. The rails are being laid in real time.
For anyone who sends money across borders, supports family abroad, or runs a business that pays international suppliers, this is the fee collapse arriving through the front door of regulation. When frameworks converge, the savings flow to the people who need them most: workers and merchants in developing economies. The WTO just put the world's trade body on record saying the future of payments is a coordination problem, and coordination problems get solved. Cheaper, faster global money is a matter of when, and the when is getting closer.
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